New book supports fight against cancer with focus on diet

AMID a raft of fad diets and trends, two experts in diet and nutrition were left frustrated by some of the claims.

Now they have taken matters into their own hands with a book which presents a diet that can help prevent cancer.

Dr Aoife Ryan, Senior Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics at UCC, and Dr Éadaoin Ní Bhuachalla, UCC PhD graduate and HSE Senior Primary Care Dietitian, have created The Anti-Cancer Cookbook as a means of setting the record straight about cancer and diet as they believe that there are a lot of falsehoods out there.

“There are a lot of books published on the topic of diet and cancer but very few, if any, are evidence-based,” says Dr Ryan.

“Éadaoin and I were both frustrated with the misinformation about nutrition and cancer and felt there was no evidence-based alternative source of accurate information for the public, so we decided to write this book.

“Fads like juicing, blood type diets, avoiding carbohydrates (keto diets), macrobiotic diets and dairy free diets, can lead to confusion – so we based this book on the latest evidence-based cancer-prevention recommendations from the WCRF (the global expert body on cancer prevention).

“It is the most accurate information available now, to our knowledge.

Obesity

“And while I wouldn’t necessarily say there are dangers for the general public from following fad diets, the real danger is for cancer patients on treatment who read about these fads and try them out while on treatment.”

Up to 40pc of cancer cases are thought to be preventable and the nutrition expert says lifestyle plays a major role.

Obesity is believed to be a significant risk factor for 12 different cancers.

Professor John Crown, Consultant Medical Oncologist at St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, says while many people are aware of how diet can cause diabetes and circulatory disease, the influence of diet on cancer is less widely understood.

The Anti-Cancer Cookbook,

could be very beneficial in making people more aware.

He said recent research has highlighted the fact that, for some cancers, obesity is a bigger culprit than smoking.

The Anti-Cancer Cookbook

costs €30 and is published by Cork University Press/Atrium.

It is available at all leading bookstores, online at breakthroughcancerresearch.ie/ good-nutrition/ and through Amazon and The Book Depository.

The authors have waived all royalties back to Breakthrough Cancer Research to fund cancer research.